Friday, July 18, 2014

While Politicians Squabble over Carbon, the Ground is Shifting Beneath their Feet

What is the cheapest source of energy in the upper Midwest? Wind. Cheaper than natural gas, cheaper than coal:
“We’re adding 750 megawatts of wind in the next couple of years, and we’re getting that for a price that’s below the competing alternatives,” said Frank Prager, the vice president for environmental policy at Xcel Energy.
In Minnesota, which has taken a multipronged approach to reducing carbon emissions -- higher energy efficiency standards for buildings, a requirement that utilities purchase renewable power, etc. -- the electric power industry has been decreasing its carbon emissions by 1.5% per year since 2000.

The notion that moving away from fossil fuels would cripple our economy is nonsense. We already have the technology to drastically reduce our CO2 emissions, if we ever decide to do it.

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